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Mother Hens and Mountain Views
Julia Cameron, in her seminal work "The Artist's Way," talks about synchronicity – those seemingly magical coincidences that aren't really coincidences at all. Like when you're thinking about someone and they call, or when you keep seeing the same number everywhere. I learned that the regenerative chicken farmer I interviewed this month not only went to college right across the street from me, but we were there at the exact same time.
"The rivalry still runs strong," Tyler laughed when we realized our alma mater connection. He had gone to Claremont McKenna College, I had gone to Pomona, and somehow decades later we had both ended up neck-deep in regenerative agriculture – him raising some of California's finest pastured poultry, me writing about sustainable food systems.
A few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to visit Tyler at his Big Bluff Ranch outside of Red Bluff, CA. The drive took two hours from Sacramento, past miles and miles of Imperial valley agricultural industrial complex, before winding up into the foothills of the Yolla Bolly Mountains. The terrain was dotted with majestic valley oaks that sprouted up and stretched massive arms across an amber carpet of bone-dry rolling pastures. The road turned to dirt a dozen miles before the ranch, its washboard surface challenging the suspension of my rented Malibu. Three miles to the nearest neighbor—and seven to the next – this was California farming at its most remote.
When I finally arrived, rattled and dusty, Tyler greeted me with a grin and a story about how the ranch got its name. He loves telling tales of the three generations that have enjoyed this 4,000 acre paradise. You’ll get to hear all about it—and more—in our podcast conversation.
As we walked the property, just before sunset, a covey of wild quail scattered. Hundreds of turkeys sat perched along fallen trees in the middle of their pasture. Chickens congregated at a puddle fed by a leaky pipe.
"The first time we tried processing chickens, we used my mom's stock pot in her kitchen," Tyler chuckled. "You only get to do that once." The distinct aroma of wet chicken, mixed with other farm-fresh scents, apparently doesn't make for great indoor ambiance.
From those humble beginnings in 2006 (and Mom's banned stock pot), the ranch grew to process 45,000 birds annually. While that might sound impressive, Tyler quickly put it into perspective: "Perdue does that in a couple of hours." But that's kind of the point – Big Bluff isn't trying to be Perdue. They're trying to be something altogether different.
"We become the mother hens," Tyler explained, showing me his unique "day range" system. Instead of the industrial approach of cramming birds into warehouses, or even the trendy "chicken tractor" method that moves daily, Big Bluff's birds live in mobile hoop houses with constant access to pasture. They can chase grasshoppers, hide from hawks, feel the sun, and huddle together at night – you know, actual chicken stuff.
As the sun set behind the Mendocino National Forest, casting long shadows across the oak-studded hills, Tyler's daughter dropped by. She's in eighth grade and already talking about getting an agricultural business degree to come back and run the ranch. It's a powerful reminder that regenerative agriculture isn't just about better chicken – it's about better farming, better land stewardship, and ultimately, a better future.
"Regenerative agriculture is going to become just... agriculture,” said Tyler. “If you look at a long enough time horizon, you're going to see that synthetic industrial agriculture is just a little blip."
Standing there in the fading light, watching chickens do what chickens do best, surrounded by three generations of ranch history, it's not hard to believe him.
Please download the podcast to hear our whole conversation on this month’s Enlightened Omnivore Podcast.
PASTURE-RAISED CLAIM: Also, if you'd like to learn more about the USDA's proposed definitions for pasture-raised poultry that Tyler andI discuss in the podcast, click on this link. The public comment period is closed, but you can see how folks responded to creating more concrete claims for responsibly raised poultry.
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